I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to phonograph record holders and, more particularly, to such a holder with locking means to prevent the unauthorized removal of phonograph records.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of previously known phonograph record holders for both holding and displaying phonograph records. While many of these previously known record holders merely comprise a closure having partitions between which one or more phonograph records are received, other types of previously known phonograph record holders employ a rod which extends through the central aperture of the phonograph records as the holding mechanism.
One example of this latter type of record holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,278,214 which issued on Mar. 31, 1942 to H. B. Pearson. This type of record holder which supports the records by a rod extending through the central aperture is advantageous in that it prevents warpage of the records which can occur when the records are stacked and leaned against each other. For a number or different reasons, however, this type of previously known record holder has not enjoyed widespread acceptance or use.
One disadvantage of this type of record holder is that such record holders have heretofore been employed only for use in conjunction with records which are typically stored without record jackets, i. e. 45 rpm records. Conversely, records which are typically stored in jackets, i. e. long playing albums, could not be used with such record holders. Presently, however, long playing albums have enjoyed increased popularity but, due to their high cost, storage of such records without their record jackets has been an economic impracticality.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known record holders in which a rod extends through the central aperture of the record is that there has previously been no provision for simply, but effectively, preventing the unauthorized removal of the record from the record holder. As a result unauthorized persons, such as children, unscrupulous adults and burglars can simply and readily remove the records from the record holder.